Columbus school board moves to put bond issue on ballot

Columbus school attendance scandal

Columbus City Schools employees -- and perhaps others in schools throughout the state -- are accused of falsifying students' records to improve their schools' standing on state report cards. Read the complete series.

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The Columbus school board voted 6-1 yesterday to begin the process of placing a bond issue on
the November ballot.

The issue of up to 1.16 mills would raise a little less than $10 million a year, to be leveraged
into $200 million by issuing bonds to be used for building construction and technology upgrades. If
approved by voters, it would mean that a school district resident would pay about $40 more a year
in taxes on a $100,000 home.

In approving the measure, the board followed the recommendation of a citizens committee, which
will reconvene next Tuesday to discuss placing another tax issue on the November ballot, this time
for operating expenses that could be shared with charter schools.

For the first time, the Board of Education will consider a school’s academic performance when
deciding which buildings to renovate, which means high-performing schools likely will get new
buildings first.

Board member Mike Wiles voted against the plan, saying the board promised voters and the state
11 years ago that it would replace or upgrade every building in the district within 15 years. At
the current rate, he said, it’s going to take decades longer to complete the project.

“How long is the board going to allow these people to swing in the wind?” Wiles asked.

“When the economy took a dip, everything took a dip,” Gibbs said.Under a 15-year plan that the
district signed, the Ohio School Facilities Commission pays roughly 30 percent of the district’s
costs when it builds a new school.

District facilities chief Carole Olshavsky said last week that each mill produces roughly enough
money to build 10 new schools, including one high school, which is more expensive than buildings
for younger students. Wiles speculated that, given the new criteria on academic performance, the
district would be on track to replace the high-performing Columbus Alternative High School, but
Olshavsky said no such decision has been made.

The district will hold a public hearing on the tax issue at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Downtown
headquarters building, 270 E. State St. The millage committee will make final recommendations on
July 11, and those will be presented to the school board on July 16. The board is to approve the
final package on July 23.